Effects of Activation Time on the Performance of Supercapacitor Binderless Activated Carbon Electrodes Derived from Fibers of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches

Abstract

Green monoliths (GMs) with different composition, labelled as GM1, GM2 and GM3, were prepared from self-adhesive carbon grains (SACG) produced from fibers of oil palm empty fruit bunches, SACG treated with 0.4 M H2SO4 and mixtures of SACG and carbon nanotubes (5 wt.%) treated with 0.4 M H2SO4, respectively. Each GMs was carbonized and then activated with holding time of 1 h and 2 h, respectively, to produce their respective activated carbon monoliths (ACMs). These ACMs were used as electrodes to fabricate supercapacitor cells using H2SO4 electrolytes, Teflon separator and stainless steel 316L current collector. The porosity of the ACMs, examined by nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm method were found affected after prolonging the activation time. From the electrochemical characterization of the ACMs electrodes using galvanic charge-discharge methods, it was found that supercapacitor cells fabricated using the ACMs produced by longer activation time (2 h) showed better performance, which had higher specific capacitance (113 F/g), specific power (159 W/kg) and specific energy (3.35 W h/kg), compared to the cells using ACMs produced by shorter activation time (1 h).